From the Pulpit: God continues to be the light in our midst
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
As both a pastor and the mother of a 5-year-old and 2-year-old, I field a lot of questions. If you interact with the youngest among us on any regular basis, I imagine you know what I mean.
Most of the time the questions I get are about dinosaurs, people, animals, school days, Christmas, Jesus and snow. I’ll let you discern which of those come through my role as pastor versus parent.
Recently, as we were chatting on the way to school, my 5-year-old asked, “Where do the stars go in the daytime?” I responded with, “Well, they don’t go anywhere. They are still in the sky, but the sun shines so bright during the day that we can’t see them.” Finn thought about that for a bit and then went on to his next questions. I, however, haven’t so quickly moved on from that question.
It’s so easy for me to complain about how dark it is these days. It is both literally dark and dark with the frustrations I find in the circumstances around me. And yet, the stars still shine. Even when I can not see them. What a beautiful gift of consistency.
This is such a tangible reminder of what God does through Jesus, sending light to the world. God’s presence is one that refuses to stop shining, even when all we can talk about is the darkness. God’s presence is a light that shines even when there is competition. We are constantly drawn to other shiny things that capture our attention. And yet, God glows around us.
The Gospel of John first introduces Jesus as the light that comes into the darkness. God in Jesus is relentless light. And like the stars, even after being ignored and forgotten all day long, God continues to be Light in our midst.
Just like my 5-year-old, I have a lot of questions about this messy world that we live in. As we celebrate the coming of Jesus at Christmas, I invite you to be reminded that to our questions, God responds with promises. God says, You are my child. You are beloved. You are worthy.
For unto YOU, this Christ Child was born.
